Amazon’s Bestselling Kitchen Cart Has All Sorts of Smart Storage — You Just Need to Know One Thing Before You Buy It

updated Mar 4, 2021
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Credit: Courtesy of Amazon

Usually when an item is an Amazon bestseller, it tends to have thousands of glowing reviews. This popular kitchen cart has more than 5,000 of those. It also happens to have plenty of not-so-glowing reviews. Intrigued by the wildly varying viewpoints, I decided to take a deeper look, and the issue seems to be with the assembly directions. (Someone literally said not to assemble it around children because you’ll likely use words that you don’t want them to hear!) People complain that the instructions are confusing, but those who give the cart a good review say that all you have to do is read the instructions through (at least once) before you start working. Do your due diligence and you’ll build yourself a kitchen cart that has lots of storage space — with a drawer for utensils and tools, cabinet space for small appliances, a towel rack, and spice rack.

The whole thing sits on wheels and is apparently very sturdy, making it a great way to add prep space to your kitchen. Even if you have a tiny kitchen, you can store this off to the side (Kitchn has taught me that it’s always a good idea to steal space from a neighboring room, if you need!) and just wheel it over when you need it. And while it’s technically listed for $149.99, it seems that the $95 sale price is almost always the actual price. (The base also comes in a few different colors including a beech wood version for the same price or a dark gray for $110.) Lots of storage for around $100? That seems pretty hard to beat. Even if it does mean an afternoon of assembly work.

Let’s take a look at some of those five-star reviews to see what honest shoppers had to say.

Credit: Amazon

“I moved into a studio with very limited cabinet space and narrow drawers (which my cutlery tray wouldn’t fit in) so I did a bit of measuring and found that this kitchen cart was the perfect size. It’s just the right height and it’s wide enough to do any prep work (I’m considering investing in an induction burner to use on it). I really appreciate the sturdy wheels, that allow me to easily maneuver it whenever I need it pushed out of the way.
The drawer is wide and deep and most of my tools and utensils fit easily; it glides smoothly.
The shelf inside is great, plenty of space for small appliances and soup pots. I also really dig the spice rack — depending on the size of your jars you could probably fit all your everyday spices and blends. Not totally relevant, but, my cat thinks it’s pretty cool.”

“I just received and assembled this kitchen island and was quite surprised at how beautiful, solid, and well made it is. I almost didn’t buy it because it had so many bad reviews, but after assembling it and once again going over the reviews I think I know why: It’s challenging to assemble because it’s such a complex item. And the fact that it’s so well made, mostly using large screws instead of lock nuts, may make it seem more difficult than it really is. But I assemble things like this regularly and can tell you it’s no more difficult than anything else, other than the fact that there are so many parts. Set aside four hours or so and take your time, and have fun. It only took me two and a half hours, but as I said I do this all the time.”

“I was weary about buying this cart due to all the negative reviews. I’m glad I went with this one. Everything was labeled — including the screws. The directions were a a little confusing but after looking over them a few times, everything made sense. It took me a while to put it together, just because I have to check, check and double check everything before moving ahead. It’s very sturdy. The shelf is easy to adjust. The guides are smooth. The doors are level and close nicely. I don’t know if I lucked out but I am very happy with my purchase.”